A slim majority of Pennsylvanians like the job Ed Rendell is doing as governor, but most disapprove of his handling of the budget, and of his plan to give a Spanish company control of the turnpike and put tolls on Interstate 80, a poll shows.

The latest Quinnipiac University poll of voters across the state, released this morning, said 54 percent approve of the job Gov. Rendell is doing. Only 40 percent, though, say he is doing a good job handling the budget. Just 29 percent favor his plans for the turnpike and to make I-80 a toll road.

The legislature, amid the Bonusgate investigation, got approval from only a third of the voters, the poll shows.  read more »

In the wake of the Bonusgate arrests, a senior state Senate Republican has called on Gov. Ed Rendell to convene a special legislative session on government reform. And Rendell says he’s up for it — if lawmakers are.

Last week, state Attorney General Tom Corbett announced charges against one current and one former lawmaker and 10 current and former legislative employees.

All 12 are or were affiliated with the House Democratic caucus and are accused of participating in a culture that used public money to further political and, in some cases, personal gains. Each faces charges that include at least one count of theft, conspiracy and conflict of interest.  read more »

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is seeking to reassure New Jersey Governor Corzine that he’s not reneging on a deal between the two states that enables dredging of the Delaware River to proceed.

The ink was barely dry on an agreement between the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and the Army Corps of Engineers when fresh controversy erupted over the dredging project. The Army Corps said it was not bound by a key element of a deal that broke a deadlock between New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and said it might dump dredged material at federally-approved sites in New Jersey. Governor Rendell says he understands why Governor Corzine is upset:  read more »

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Deal is expected soon on dredging the Delaware

Some state lawmakers are seeking to block a proposal to require new state graduation tests for Pennsylvania high school students, arguing that greater legislative input is needed before the state spends any money on the exams.

But their cause is unlikely to succeed because Gov. Ed Rendell’s administration insists the testing program is essential to establishing uniform graduation requirements for the state’s 501 school districts.

The Senate Education Committee voted 10-1 Monday to approve a measure that would give the Legislature the sole authority to impose any new statewide graduation requirements.  read more »

Gov. Ed Rendell held a roundtable discussion at an Allentown elementary school Wednesday — one of five forums he’s conducting throughout the state — to tout his plan to invest $2.6 billion in public education over the next six years.

Under Rendell’s plan, Allentown School District stands to gain $90 million in new funding by 2014, a goal essential to closing the resource gap identified in a study the state authorized last year to find out what it will cost to achieve a quality education in public schools.  read more »

Gov. Ed Rendell — one of Hillary Clinton’s most vocal supporters — told CNN on Wednesday that Barack Obama should choose Clinton as his running mate if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee for president.

Obama would need a running mate who appeals to working-class voters and in swing states, and “there’s no question in my mind they should ask Hillary Clinton to be that candidate,” he said.

“I don’t know whether she would accept. I don’t know whether he would do it. But don’t settle for someone, a Clinton supporter. You’ve got the real thing, someone who has energized voters,” said Rendell, who has been mentioned as a possible running mate for either Clinton or Obama.  read more »

By the end of April, Gov. Ed Rendell will announce the highest bid for the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and he hopes the Legislature will vote by mid-June to lease the toll road to a private operator.

He has a good chance of getting the votes of legislators whose districts lie along the Interstate 80 corridor, because the turnpike leasing proposal would scrap the state’s plan, approved in July, to impose first-time tolls on I-80. But he’ll face some opposition from members of his own Democratic Party.  read more »